She's Playing for Keeps
by thecoleaderofgroupb
Summary: Most girls would have freaked out about waking up to find themselves tied to the train tracks as a train was pulling in, let alone going to a party with the intention of charming another girl. The odds were stacked against her but Roxy kept her cool throughout both parts of the task. Cross-posted to tumblr and DA.


**Notes**: Like many people, I wondered how Roxy approached the NLP/Secrecy task, as they only showed part of it before putting the focus right back on our hero Eggsy.

* * *

"A party?" Roxy asked as she looked up at Merlin with a quirk of her brows. She removed the invitation and info contained within her envelope as Charlie and Eggsy followed suit. Part of her wanted to ask if Merlin and the others had lost their minds throwing them this right after she nearly suffered a heart attack as she and Eggsy hurled towards the ground before he pulled her parachute with only a few feet above the target just moments ago. She was hardly in the mood to get all dolled up and mingle with strangers she could care less about, especially after trying to convince herself that she survived and passed another harrowing task for the Kingsman initiation. She kept her face devoid of expression as she watched Charlie hold up the black and white picture of a stunning blonde to show Merlin.

"Who's this?" Charlie asked with a smile that was threatening to turn into a smirk.

Merlin pointed his pen at the picture and replied, "That is your target. You are to use your NLP training to get the target in any way fit."

Eggsy leaned back in his seat as he saw that he also got the blonde. He grinned widely and cocked his head as he chortled, "Easy, posh girls like a bit of rough."

Charlie shot Eggsy a skeptical look and snorted, "Yeah, well we'll see about that."

Roxy had kept her picture of the target hidden and she glanced around at both of the boys before revealing that she also had the blonde. "Yes, we certainly will."

Merlin dismissed them with his usual, "Fall out," before leaving them to get ready for the task, which would take place in an upscale club in an hour and a half.

Charlie rose from his chair and unzipped his suit travel bag in his suitcase to reveal a designer suit with a crisp, white button down shirt. Eggsy headed over to his bed and unfolded a rather loud-looking bomber jacket that he had in a trunk at the foot of his bed. He pulled off his boots and reached for the white Nike sneakers with the wings on the backs before searching for his jeans and polo. Roxy ignored Charlie's look as he stripped off his jumpsuit and began changing into his suit.

She opened her suitcase and pondered what she wanted to wear. She had brought a sharp-looking pair of fitted trousers and flirty but modest-looking blouse and a navy lace dress that her mum had bought her as a graduation gift after completing military training. Poor Mum – she thought that her daughter was going to just come home, stop trying to run with the boys, and settle down with a nice, posh boy that was of equal status as her.

"Aww a proper business girl outfit," Charlie chortled when he saw Roxy pull out the trousers and blouse. "Real winning look you're going for Roxanne – I can already see who will be walking out of the party with Lady Sophie tonight."

Roxy's back stiffened at that comment and she waited for Charlie to leave the room before shoving both items of clothing back into her suitcase. She hated to admit it, but maybe Charlie was right – going with the blouse and trousers felt more appropriate for a regular job interview or a boring desk job than an upscale party in a posh club. She hardly knew the target they were supposed to be seducing but she had to admit that the target was lovely.

_This task was obviously designed for male candidates_, Roxy thought as she let her shoulders sag. _Figures as almost everyone else here, save for Percival, Eggsy, maybe Merlin, probably thought I'd be long gone._ A thought crossed her mind and she bit her lip. _Oh God, this target might not even be into women!_

Eggsy yanked his polo over his head and tugged it down before throwing his jacket on. He glanced over at Roxy who was chewing on her lip and glaring at her suitcase, unsure of what to do for tonight's party look.

"Rox he's just being a snobbish wanker," Eggsy spoke up. "Look, if ya wanna wear your trousers and blouse outfit, go for it. I ain't going out in a fancy suit like he is."

"But you could if you wanted to," Roxy sighed.

Eggsy ducked his head and mumbled that he never owned a suit. "Closest I've ever come is my Marines uniform but I quit before I could finish," he added. "I know what you're thinkin' – I didn't quit 'cause it was hard – my mum went mental about me being away while she was home with Daisy and…my asshole stepfather so…"

"You came back for them," Roxy finished. "Makes sense…" She looked back at her choices and Eggsy walked over to look at both of them. He pointed to the lace dress and tilted his head to get a better look at it.

"Wear whatever ya want Rox," Eggsy said. "But I will say that looks rather nice – probably won't get a chance to look this fancy unless ya get a Kingsman suit…and the job of course."

Roxy pulled the navy lace dress out and studied it. She fished around in her suitcase for her matching heels and straightened up. She undid the laces on her boots before taking off her jumpsuit and casting it onto her bed. Eggsy had already turned around to give her privacy and she folded the jumpsuit and her shirt neatly, putting them into a pile on her bed. She unzipped the dress and wiggled it up, sliding her arms into the sleeves, and adjusting the shoulders so they lay flat.

"Zip me up, will you?" Roxy asked Eggsy over her shoulder.

Eggsy walked over to her and tugged the zipper up carefully until he reached the end of the track. He stepped away from Roxy and grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. She caught a look at herself in the mirror at the end of the dormitory as she was putting her heels on and she tilted her head as she looked at herself.

"Looks like it was a good choice," she said with a smile.

Eggsy nodded as he met her eyes in the mirror. She looked…pretty yet classy, which was true to Roxy's style. He couldn't tell if she was the type who was into girls or not but hell, she was the top of the class and would probably ace this task with flying colors, whether the target was a girl or guy. He shoved his hands in his pockets and said, "Look, I dunno if I'm gonna make an impression this girl or not but…do me a favor and kick Charlie's ass at this task, okay? There's no way a girl like Lady Sophie would be interested in an ass like him, right?"

Roxy smirked as her eyes met Eggsy's in the mirror and she nodded her head sharply. She had never been with a girl before but hell she would be down for giving it a go at least once.

* * *

The club was packed when the three recruits arrived, flashing their invitations at the door. The bouncer checked them and their IDs before unclipping the velvet rope and letting them inside, casting a suspicious look at Eggsy, who looked very casual in his standard street clothes compared to everyone else who was dressed to the nines.

"Thanks bruv," Eggsy said with a cocky smile as he passed the bouncer.

Charlie made a face and muttered something under his breath about Eggsy sticking out and embarrassing him right now. Roxy smirked behind his back and shot Eggsy a look, which he returned with his own smirk, both pleased with their work of making Charlie uncomfortable. Yeah they needed to focus on finding the target but the added bonus of annoying Charlie on a night like this? It was too tempting to pass up. One girl pulled Eggsy off to the side, batting her eyelashes at him while Charlie accepted a glass of champagne from one of the servers carrying trays of them throughout the club. He took a sip from the flute and grinned confidently as he zeroed in on their target, sitting on a plush couch in the middle of the club, with a cocktail in her hand. She was busy chatting with another attendee who was standing behind the couch and she smiled, revealing a sparkling set of beautiful white teeth. At one point she adjusted the strap on her sleeveless black dress and Roxy admired the way it complimented her body.

"Time to score a Lady," Charlie said as he squared his shoulders and slid into the seat on Lady Sophie's left. He put his champagne glass down on the table before moving closer to the target, draping his arm on the couch behind her.

"Excuse me," Charlie began as he looked the target in the eye, "I'm sorry but I just had to come over and say, amazing eyes."

Lady Sophie looked up from her conversation with the other guest and smiled when Charlie joined her. Her smile widened when she heard the latter's compliment and she leaned closer to him.

Before she could reply, Charlie added as he tilted his head to get a closer look at her eyes, "Are you wearing contacts?"

The target blinked and drew back with a surprised look. "No!" she said as she raised her brows.

Roxy thanked the waiter who offered her a flute of champagne and she accepted it as she watched Charlie interact with the target. She rolled her eyes when she heard Charlie's compliment, followed by the question of whether Lady Sophie's eyes were real or faked with colored lenses. She had to resist the urge to laugh as she strode over to them, taking a seat on the target's right.

"OMG negging," she remarked as she looked over at Charlie. His face fell when he saw her join them and she set her glossy lips in a smirk. Her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head as she added, "That's hilarious. I haven't heard that one since the noughties!"

Lady Sophie turned towards Roxy with a curious look. "I'm sorry what?"

Roxy leaned towards Sophie's ear, catching a whiff of something floral and a hint of strawberries – probably the target's perfume, and said, "Neg Theory, he's trying to use a negative compliment to wear down your self-esteem and make you more invested in proving yourself to him." The target turned towards Roxy, intrigued by her response and up close Roxy saw that she had these lovely sky blue eyes. She caught Charlie's mortified expression out of the corner of her eye and she took this moment to take a sip from her flute, the smirk still in place. Charlie: 0, Roxy: 1.

Eggsy strode over to them, his lips twisted in a grimace. He plunked his champagne flute down with some force on the table in front of them and asked, "Guys, is it just me or does this champagne taste weird?"

Lady Sophie turned towards Eggsy and her eyes widened a little as she scanned his casual attire. Charlie sat on the edge of his seat, eager to turn the focus back on him and he shot Eggsy a pity smile as he gestured to him with his champagne glass.

"Like you're the expert," Charlie said with a shake of his head. He turned towards Lady Sophie and gestured to Eggsy as he tried to deconstruct Eggsy's approach about commenting on the champagne. "Now this guy just demonstrated the technique of giving an opinion, which…"

Roxy bore her honey-colored eyes into Charlie as she took another sip from her glass, trying to resist the urge to roll her eyes at his attempt to copy her deconstruction technique that she just exhibited. Pathetic.

Lady Sophie listened as Charlie explained that Eggsy was trying to get her attention by asserting a strong opinion and Eggsy shook his head no as he held up his flute.

"No I'm serious, something tastes off," Eggsy insisted.

Lady Sophie smiled as she held up her cocktail and replied, "Well maybe you should get one of these!"

A man approached their group and he informed Lady Sophie that she had an important call to take. She rose from her seat and excused herself, saying she'd be right back.

"We'll be here," Eggsy added before taking a seat next to Roxy on the couch. He glanced over at her and murmured, "Nice goin' back there Rox."

She nodded as she took another sip from her glass, trying to see if she could taste something different or off about the champagne like Eggsy had detected. One of the waiters approached the trio and shot them a crooked smile.

"Excuse me," he began, "I couldn't help but overhear that you were discussing pick-up techniques."

All three of them looked suspiciously at the waiter and he leaned closer to them.

The last thing Roxy heard him say was, "Might I suggest something…hypno…" before her vision began to darken and she slipped into an unconscious state, her head lolling close to Eggsy's shoulder.

* * *

She felt a throbbing sensation in her head and a cold gust of wind cut across her face as she pried her eyes open. Her vision began to sharpen as she shook her head and she turned to see that her wrists and ankles were secured with rope to a set of train tracks. She heard a man cackle and she turned her head to see it was the waiter from the club, leering down at her from the platform. Eggsy had been right – their champagne had been drugged. How did she miss that? It was too easy of a task that Merlin had given them – going to a party to simply hit on a target using their NLP techniques. No, there was more to this than she thought.

The waiter pulled out a knife from his wool coat and twirled it in his fingers. "This knife can save your life Roxanne," he called out before nodding over at the train chugging towards her.

Roxy turned her head towards the blinding train light and she gritted her teeth. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest but she turned her attention back to the man hovering above her, his small eyes zeroing in on hers and he flashed his mouthful of crooked, yellow teeth at her.

"So I'm gonna ask you this once girlie," the waiter uttered. He threw his arms out and raised a brow as he asked, "What is Kingsmen and who the hell is Percival?"

Roxy bit her tongue and glared up at the man, refusing to speak. _Secrecy_, she thought. She could hear Percival telling her, "It's the nature of Kingsmen that our business remains secret." This task was to catch them off guard and test their loyalty to the organization, even under duress, which could happen at any time like now. She glanced at the tracks she was secured to and almost laughed at how ridiculous this set-up was – this was so 1920s silent film of them to do, really. She jutted her chin out and shot the waiter a defiant look before declaring, "Like hell I'd tell you."

"So be it," he sneered as the train rushed towards her.

Roxy closed her eyes, pressing her lips together as the train rushed over top of her. She felt the wind blow her hair over her eyes and she breathed deeply before opening her eyes to see Percival standing where the waiter had been. She looked left then right and allowed a small smile to spread across her face when she saw that the part of the track she had been secured to had sunk underneath while the train passed overhead, leaving her unharmed. The tracks above her retracted before her section of the track sprang to the top to realign with the rest.

"Good work Roxy," Percival said with smile. "You passed with flying colors." He got down from the platform and cut Roxy's bonds loose with the knife. He offered his hand and Roxy took it, standing up and dusting her dress off before they stepped up onto the platform. She smoothed her dress hem down and Percival folded his hands as he stood before her.

"So Eggsy's next," Percival said. "Shall we watch?"

Roxy brushed a strand of limp hair away from her face and nodded. She followed Percival through a door and wandered down a hallway before ending up in Merlin's office, where he was watching the recruits via video feeds.

"Congratulations Percival," Merlin said as they entered. "Your candidate passed the task. Now let's see how Galahad and Arthur's candidates do." He turned his attention back to the screens in front of him and Roxy stepped closer to Merlin's chair, watching as Eggsy came to. Roxy crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Eggsy struggle against his bonds and scream profanities at the man while evading the questions about Kingsmen and Harry Hart.

_He thinks this is real_, Roxy thought as she watched Eggsy panic as the train came closer. _Aside from freaking out, he's doing well so far._

"Is Kingsmen worth dying for?" the waiter taunted as the train came closer.

Eggsy glared at the waiter before yelling, "Fuck yes!" as the train rushed over him.

"He's loyal that's for sure," Percival murmured as he watched. "But he's a lot…rougher than the last one Galahad brought in."

Roxy bit her lip as she tried not to laugh at Percival's reaction to Eggsy's response about dying for Kingsmen. While he and Galahad agreed that it was time to induct a new breed of Kingsmen into the organization aside from their usual lineup of prim, skilled candidates with middle to upper class backgrounds, he had never been one for people who tended to throw multiple profanities into a conversation casually like Eggsy. She shook her head when she saw Eggsy's bewildered reaction as Harry Hart stood over him and congratulated him on passing the task.

She was happy that Eggsy passed but she bit her lip when she realized that they still had Charlie left to test. He hadn't taken it well that she was at the top of the class and he continued to undermine her, claiming that she had gotten lucky or that she was only doing well thanks to her "boyfriend" Eggsy being around to help out. Part of her felt worried: if Charlie passed this task, would that mean she or Eggsy would be sent home for how they handled this entire task? She replayed how she handled the NLP portion of the task and remembered that she spent most of her time with Lady Sophie deconstructing Charlie's dated pick-up technique. Meanwhile, Eggsy hadn't even attempted to woo Lady Sophie, instead focusing on the fact that the champagne tasted like it was drugged.

Eggsy bounded through the door and nudged Roxy before standing to her right, watching Merlin's screen focused on Charlie who was tied to the tracks. Charlie thrashed around and went several shades paler when the waiter pointed out the oncoming train that was about to run him over.

"Is Kingsmen worth dying for?" the waiter asked him.

"Oh God no!" Charlie yelled as he jerked his head towards the waiter. "Arthur's the head of Kingsmen – real name is Chester King! Now cut me free already!"

Roxy rolled her eyes as she watched Charlie give up his sponsor and the organization so easily. She relaxed her shoulders and saw that Eggsy was shaking his head as Charlie fell apart. They were the final two candidates – wait, had it really been that long ago when it was 9 of them vying for the position? She took a deep breath and pinched the skin between her thumb and index finger on her left hand. Yeah, it was real – she was that much closer to possibly becoming the new Lancelot.

The waiter twirled the knife in his hands and sneered at Charlie before thanking him and walking away from the edge of the platform. Charlie screamed as the train ran over him and he opened his eyes as the track reset. Arthur stood above him, his lips set in a thin line and his brows knitted.

"I had high hopes for you," Arthur said as he shook his head. "You disappoint me."

Charlie blinked and tried to plead with the head of Kingsmen, insisting that he had no idea it was a test and that he'd do better next time. He noticed that Arthur had the knife in his hands and he begged the head of Kingsmen to cut him loose. Arthur chuckled before tossing the knife to the ground and telling Charlie that he could cut himself loose before leaving him tied to the tracks.

Eggsy snickered at Charlie's shocked reaction and Roxy shot him a small smile before Merlin turned around to address both of them and their respective mentors. They assumed serious expressions as Merlin looked at Galahad then Percival.

"Galahad, Percival," Merlin began, "congratulations. Your candidates made it to the final stage of initiation." He looked over at Eggsy and Roxy and added, "From now on, you should know that there are no safety nets. Understood?"

Both of them looked at each other before nodding to show that they understood. Merlin dismissed them before addressing Charlie over his microphone.

"Charlie, it's time to go home," Merlin told him as he pressed the button on his microphone.

Eggsy and Roxy were the last ones out the door when they overheard Charlie yelling, "Fuck you!" and they exchanged smirks and high-fives once they were outside Merlin's office.

_Not bad for two underdogs_, Roxy thought.


End file.
